|
 |
Tuesday, 31 December 2013
The Refugee Council of Australia - your support is needed
Monday, 30 December 2013
ABBOTT'S NASTY MEDICARE CO-PAYMENT SURROUNDED BY NASTY PEOPLE AND ARGUMENT AND THEN THERE'S THE MURDOCH ROLE
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been in office less than four months and there are now press reports of a crucial change to the pillar of Australian health delivery, Medicare. As I write, Terry Barnes is speaking on ABC 24. Barnes was a health adviser to Tony Abbott when he was Minister for Health in the government of John Howard.
Interpolation: I am very critical of Abbott and his government but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I was very grateful to Abbott as Minister for Health. Through my life, I had always taken care of my teeth. I am getting older and had not been able to afford visits to dentists. As well, I was suffering a number of chronic illnesses. Health not top notch. Now, dentists - historically - have avoided any form of medicare as if it was the plague. Under Abbott, a number of Medicare numbers became available to allied health professionals so that areas such as dentistry, psychology, podiatry and so on opened up and people could be bulk billed for a limited number of visits or, in the case of dentistry, a limited amount of money in a particular time period. There were two qualifiers - three chronic diseases and a care plan from your medical practice. Initially, there were no dentists available anywhere near me making it impossible to take advantage of Abbott's new scheme. Gradually, however, dentists began to come on board. I found a dentist and over time received two or three bundles of credit. For me it was like winning a lottery. The scheme was closed down under Labor amid accusations of the scheme being rorted by well-off people getting cosmetic surgery. I can't speak about that but Labor never did mention the boon to aged pensioners like myself in poor health without the ability to get desperately needed dental work. Surely, if there was rorting by the rich a means test would have rectified the problem. When the scheme was finally closed in November 2011, Labor put nothing - yes, nothing - in its place. They made a huge fanfare and promised to fund more 'chairs' for public dentistry but that is not due to start in 2014. I'll be keeping a watching brief on that ... particularly now that there is a new government which does not have to take responsibility for a policy announced but not implemented by Labor. My betting is that there will be little, probably no, dentistry available. The major difference between the Abbott program and Labor's proposal is that eligible people could book in with a private dentist like any other patient. No waiting list as there had been in public facilities.
Now that I have done the niceties with a tip of my forelock to Abbott, back to the matter at hand.
Barnes's recommendation is part of a commissioned private proposal presented to the National Commission of Audit. I have not got exact confirmation but I believe that the Barnes report was commissioned by the Australian Centre for Health Research. [For the Terms of Reference of the NCA, please see the document embedded below. It can be read here on line or down-loaded from this post.] The term "commissioned private proposal" I interpret as code for saying that this is a Liberal Party generated proposal, more than likely with Abbott's consent, put together by an adviser to the Minister for Health (namely Abbott) in the previous Liberal-National Party Government. The National Commission of Audit is not a new concept. The same thing occurred when John Howard Government came to power.
The Commissioners for the Abbott Government's National Commission of Audit are:
Tony Shepherd, Chair
It seems to me that the personnel of the National Commission of Audit are there for a combination of bureaucratic expertise and political and business gate-keeping. The NCA is certainly not informed by either policy or economic vision.
Back to Terry Barnes and his appearance on ABC 24.
One of the problems that could be brought about by imposition of the $5 co-payment - people opting for an Emergency Department visit instead of a visit to the GP - is easily dealt with according to Barnes. No probs, says Barnes. State Governments could introduce a co-payment on Emergency Department visits in State Hospitals! In short, there will be gate-keeping either at your General Practice or at the Emergency Department of your local hospital.
There will be sufficient concessions introduced to induce you not to complain. Pensioners and concession card holders will be exempt from the co-payment. Families will be provided with 12 free bulk-billed visits annually.
Barnes think that the co-payment, even the co-payment at Emergency Departments, is not a big deal. He compares it, blithely, to no more than the price of a burger and chips. Silly me. I thought we were trying to encourage a healthy diet away from burger and chips. Not all poor families frequent Maccas or its competitors. They care for their budget and they care for their health. I don't believe that Barnes, those who commissioned his report, and those who will receive it have a clue about ordinary families let alone poor families. None of those on the Commission of Audit have taken young families to the GP recently ... so how do they have a clue?
Lastly, why has this been spread first all across the Murdoch Press? Melbourne's Herald Sun is full of praise for the proposal. This then is propaganda.
Why did Abbott not announce this at the election? Fearful of the polls?
Why did Abbott not have a national conversation about this post-election? Fearful.
Clearly the Abbott government is determined to implement this policy while maintaining its distance as the conversation goes on somewhere else ... anywhere else but having the conversation take place between the nation, himself and his Ministers, Peter Dutton and Fiona Nash. No. This policy is to be introduced by sleight of hand ... or by some amount of apparent coercion by the Commission of Audit.
We will be told over and again
> how this has to happen.
> how a price signal has to be sent.
> how it is a small and reasonable amount.
> how it will not prevent people seeing a doctor
ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
Please continue to follow
the introduction of a dishonest policy,
by dishonest people in support of a dishonest government.
|
CAMPAIGN TO SAVE OUR MEDICARE: Keep health care free and universal for all Australians
The Abbott Government threatens to re-introduce
a $5 fee for every visit to the doctor.
This policy will unfairly target
those in our community who make frequent visits
to their doctor:
the elderly, the poor, expecting Mums, families with kids.
For years, Medicare has been an Australian institution.
Medicare is the envy of the world.
It provides free and universal health care.
This great and useful policy is now under threat.
Here's how you can help:
- Let your friends and your family know that these changes are unfair.
- Share this post to support the campaign to keep Medicare working for ALL Australians.
- Tell Health Minister Peter Dutton how you feel by emailing him at
Peter.Dutton.MP@aph.gov.au
OR
on his Facebook page:
Let's send a message to the AustralianGovernment:
Keep health care free
and universal for all Australians.
|
Sunday, 29 December 2013
Pope Francis, Catholicism, The Vatican, The United Nations, Empire and Women & Children
I have been asked by a few people what are my thoughts on Pope Francis. I warm to what I see but I do reserve judgment. I don't believe that one man can turn around the culture of the insular Vatican or the wide Catholic diaspora.
I believe there are inhibiting and evil cultures at work within the Vatican and within Catholicism at large. One of them is the culture of almost two thousand years of Roman style administration - the administration of Empire. The Catholic Church has been ruling a physical empire - not just a spiritual one. This flies in the face of Jesus who said his kingdom was not of this world. Central to the continuity through changing times and controversies has been the exercise of power across the world through an administration both Roman and Catholic.
This power has as one of its foundations exclusion. This exclusion is seen most clearly in the church's attitude to women and children. Children are powerless still. Women do have power and agency in this day and age ... but, with only rare exceptions, this is a product of the 20th century.
I don't applaud Pope Frank for having some of the better dressed poor to breakfast. That is not a world first. I will know things are on their way when the Vatican is handed back to the Italian Government and the Lateran Treaty is null and void; when the Catholic Church becomes a stateless entity with no representation at the United Nations.
One other thing is needed from top to bottom and that is a policy of inclusion as opposed to the current policy of preferment. Excluded women and children have to be welcomed into the centrality of the Church. A clear sign that this is happening will be the abolition of required celibacy within the Church. I know there is a long queue of women, particularly in religious orders, awaiting ordination to the priesthood. However, a reformed church will take into itself people from the pews IRRESPECTIVE of age, gender, ethnicity, educational qualifications.
The Catholic Church has long called itself The Universal Church. This is a lie. It is not The Universal Church as long as there are people excluded from its ranks simply on the basis of who they are rather than what they have to contribute.
So dear Pope Frank, I do give you ten out of ten for style. But more than style is required. Substance is of the essence and that must be, as far as contemporary humans are able, enduring. You will have to upset whole tribes of Vatican huggers and preferred prelates ... but I do believe that if you do it well - and you are capable of doing it well - there will be loud applause from the pews and beyond. You might even find many who have moved from the Church finding their ways back to inclusion.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/20/does-pope-francis-have-a-woman-problem.html
I believe there are inhibiting and evil cultures at work within the Vatican and within Catholicism at large. One of them is the culture of almost two thousand years of Roman style administration - the administration of Empire. The Catholic Church has been ruling a physical empire - not just a spiritual one. This flies in the face of Jesus who said his kingdom was not of this world. Central to the continuity through changing times and controversies has been the exercise of power across the world through an administration both Roman and Catholic.
This power has as one of its foundations exclusion. This exclusion is seen most clearly in the church's attitude to women and children. Children are powerless still. Women do have power and agency in this day and age ... but, with only rare exceptions, this is a product of the 20th century.
I don't applaud Pope Frank for having some of the better dressed poor to breakfast. That is not a world first. I will know things are on their way when the Vatican is handed back to the Italian Government and the Lateran Treaty is null and void; when the Catholic Church becomes a stateless entity with no representation at the United Nations.
One other thing is needed from top to bottom and that is a policy of inclusion as opposed to the current policy of preferment. Excluded women and children have to be welcomed into the centrality of the Church. A clear sign that this is happening will be the abolition of required celibacy within the Church. I know there is a long queue of women, particularly in religious orders, awaiting ordination to the priesthood. However, a reformed church will take into itself people from the pews IRRESPECTIVE of age, gender, ethnicity, educational qualifications.
The Catholic Church has long called itself The Universal Church. This is a lie. It is not The Universal Church as long as there are people excluded from its ranks simply on the basis of who they are rather than what they have to contribute.
So dear Pope Frank, I do give you ten out of ten for style. But more than style is required. Substance is of the essence and that must be, as far as contemporary humans are able, enduring. You will have to upset whole tribes of Vatican huggers and preferred prelates ... but I do believe that if you do it well - and you are capable of doing it well - there will be loud applause from the pews and beyond. You might even find many who have moved from the Church finding their ways back to inclusion.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/20/does-pope-francis-have-a-woman-problem.html
|
Do not be anxious (Luke's Gospel Chapter 12 Verse 22, Should we be anxious? If we are too anxious, what do we do about our anxiety?
Yesterday,
It has stimulated much conversation and information.
Perhaps you might like to visit and make your own contribution?
|
Friday, 20 December 2013
The Mingling Waters Music Festival at Nowa Nowa in East Gippsland - 18, 19 January 2014
This post has been taken from Cam Walker's marvellous blog, Mountain Journal
From the organisers:
Mingling Waters Music Festival is a small, grass-roots, high quality, well-organised, community-focused, family-friendly music event, supporting local artists and business, promoting Nowa Nowa as a special place to visit.
We plan to bring new and interesting artists in from the wider community.
We aim to create a scene that brings people together to talk, listen, play, and dance and celebrate together, in a beautiful natural environment!
It is a high priority to pay and look after all the participating artists as best we can.
We hope to do well enough to donate to two local charities, The East Gippsland Rail Trail and Melon’s Cottage.
There will be a small market, including food stalls, a bar, workshops, children’s activities and FINE MUSIC!
Check here for details on tickets, accommodation, etc.
|
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Australia's first Master of Sustainability and Social Change begins February 2014
|
|
Bimblebox conversations on Clive Palmer's coal mines - the shame of greed and the threatening of a created and creative world
To read more about Bimblebox read through the links here.
|
||||
|
||||
This has had
a wide coverage, but is Queensland listening?
I doubt it,
because the Feds have just enacted their policy of no
double-testing
of Endangered Species.
Referring all
approvals back to the States. So, we know the Reef is
in serious trouble. Same applies to Bimblebox, except that the
economists
are saying it is not worth the trouble to dig it up, lay train
tracks across
Qld, etc. But with Palmer in Parliament and Gina not
needing to be
in it, who knows what deals are going to be done?
Denis
Coal mines
could be 'mothballed'
AAP (Alan
Kohler)
Australian
coal mines are at risk of becoming "mothballed or abandoned
A study by
Oxford University looked at how coal demand from China, which
accounts for
half the world's coal consumption, due to environmental factors
could lead to
"stranded assets" in Australia.
Stranded
assets have suffered from unanticipated devaluations.
The study,
released on Monday from Oxford University's stranded assets
program, outlines
the environmentally-driven shifts already underway in
China.
The shifts
include a desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the
exposure to
the volatile commodity market and improving energy efficiency.
Researchers
found these factors and others could force mine owners to
re-evaluate
the viability of developed coal projects and those in the pipeline.
"Demand
below expectations, and lower coal prices as a result, would increase
the risk that
coal mines, reserves and coal-related infrastructure could become
mothballed or
abandoned," the report states.
"Prices
could also drop to the point where it is in the interests of miners to
cease
production, resulting in stranded mines and dependent infrastructure such
as
railways."
Apart from
the financial impacts on mine operators and magnates, state
governments
would also be hurt.
The study
highlighted the significant impact posed to Queensland,
where
mega-mines are planned for the Galilee Basin.
State
governments can reduce the risk of their investments ending up as
stranded
assets by limiting the use of taxpayer dollars on coal-related
infrastructure,
such as ports and railways.
Stranded
assets program director and the study's co-author Ben Caldecott
said these
developments were not factored into positions most coal owners
and operators
were taking.
"Policy
makers need to wake up to these risks as well," he said in a statement.
|
23:50 (8 hours ago)
|
Clip
|
||
|
||||
Denis, hold on tight!
Friday is our D DAY for Bimblebox.
Hunt's deadline to send through the
airways more bad news.
Abbot is hoping that the financiers
ignore the price of coal by giving
them the govt green light...
a bit like me hoping that by writing
a submission or two the govt
won't approve the mine.
Paola
|
00:47 (7 hours ago)
|
Clip
|
||
|
||||
Paola what is being done to you guys
is just criminal. I pray for good news
for you but hold little hope
unfortunately
cheers Russ
Russell Constable
Queensland Conservation
"Champion of Conservation 2013"
and proud member of
|
01:09 (6 hours ago)
|
Clip
|
||
|
||||
Thanks Russell
they will need to drag us across the
country kicking and screaming and
that's the govt real dilemma! Not the
one to mine or not to mine a NR
but how to get rid of us
without fuss as we have been raising the
awareness to the wider public to the
fact that conservation areas can
be mined, a notion most are unaware
of. I believe people would expect
that tax payers money directed to
conservation wouldn't be redirected
to coal profits, that lines in the
sand are there for all to see even
if the govt is trying to obliterate
them with anti environment
legislation.
Not over yet, by a long chalk!
Paola
Paola
|
07:18 (34 minutes ago)
|
Clip
|
||
|
||||
The Age and even our Border Mail have
both been giving the
Abbot Government heaps and the Age
had the Oxford story and I did
wonder at the tunnel vision of our
Government and all the State
Premiers who are rubbing their greedy
little hands together over
the prospect of unlimited development
of fossil fuels. Tony is getting
a F for failure from most members of the
public. However there was an
article that said that Hockey was just waiting
for Tony to stuff up so badly
that they threw him out and Jo would step
forward to replace him.
Out of the frying pan and into the
fire.
On a brighter note, there is an
elderly lady here who is so keen to help
Bimblebox that she is going to
organise an afternoon tea for which the
invitees will have to pay to
participate and she wants my books and the
critters there and for me to do a
talk. I will get brave and do it for you, Paola.
Every dollar we get will be helpful for a court battle. We will do it after
Every dollar we get will be helpful for a court battle. We will do it after
Christmas. The money I banked
yesterday was for Critters and books sold
at the Christmas Markets.
|
07:39 (14 minutes ago)
|
Clip
|
||
|
||||
Thanks Maureen, you are a trooper!
P
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)